After a seven-year-long absence from The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012 as the host of The Battle of the Exes season finale event and reunion special. It marked the first time The Miz appeared on the series since becoming a main-event WWE Superstar.[20]

It was during an episode of The Real World that Mizanin first displayed an alter ego known as The Miz.[4] In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz was angry, combative and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that The Miz would make an excellent professional wrestlinggimmick.[4]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003–2004)

Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he trained in the Ultimate University.[4] He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as The Miz.[4] During his time with UPW, The Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to the finals before losing to Tony Stradlin.[4]

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Tough Enough and developmental territories (2004–2006)

In October 2004, Mike Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which awarded the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) contract and US$1,000,000.[4][29] Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers and reached the final round.[30] At Armageddon, Mizanin faced the other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder, in a three-round "Dixie Dogfight" (boxing match). Neither man achieved a knockout, and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction.[31] On the December 16 episode of SmackDown, Puder was declared as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow.[32] Despite coming up short on Tough Enough, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE and he was eventually offered a developmental contract.[4]

Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott,[4] relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005, he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister). On December 1, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion.[4] He continued his partnership with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005.[33] After Cappotelli's death from brain cancer in June 2018, Miz revealed they were to be called up to the SmackDown roster as a tag team known as Reality Check in 2005, but these plans were halted due to Cappotelli's cancer diagnosis.[34]

On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin had been transferred to OVW. On the January 18, 2006 OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as Miz with a Miz TV segment, where he was shown talking backstage.[4] On the January 28 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against René Duprée, but lost by countout.[35]

Main roster debut (2006–2007)

From March 7 onwards, a video on WWE's website and vignettes on SmackDown heralded The Miz debuting on SmackDown.[4][38] When Mizanin actually attempted to make his debut on the April 21 episode of SmackDown, he was in storyline banned from entering the arena by network executive Palmer Cannon who told him that he had been "cancelled" before having security escort him from the premises.[39]

The Miz debuted as SmackDown's host on June 2,[40] hyping up the crowd at the top of the show. Other duties included backstage interviews and hosting a bikini contest. Starting in July, Miz, along with Ashley Massaro, hosted the annual Diva Search competition.[41][42][43]

After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz returned exclusively to SmackDown as a villain, making his in-ring debut with win over Tatanka on the September 1 episode of SmackDown!.[44] Over the next three months, The Miz remained undefeated, defeating such wrestlers as Matt Hardy,[45]Funaki[46] and Scotty 2 Hotty.[47] At the same time he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances on more than one occasion,[48][49] leading to Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions.[50][51] However, Miz and Kristal soon found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman. This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended The Miz's winning streak at December's Armageddon event.[52]

The Miz took part in the 2007 Royal Rumble match from entry #29, but was immediately thrown out by The Great Khali, lasting only seven seconds. Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned to SmackDown to host an interview segment named Miz TV.[53] After the unsuccessful segment, The Miz returned to in-ring competition with a more intense style and began to pick up wins once again.[54][55]

Miz was drafted from SmackDown to ECW on June 17 as part of the 2007 supplemental draft.[56] He was absent from the first few weeks of ECW, though he was the subject of backstage mentions between matches and had several short Miz TV Crashes ECW video segments.[57][58] He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio, which he won.[59]

In February 2009, the team engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo). In a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, they lost the World Tag Team Championship to The Colóns in a lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team titles.[75] On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison's inadvertent interference, which gave Raw a draft pick in the 2009 WWE draft. The pick was then revealed to be The Miz and retaliated by subsequently attacking Morrison, ending their partnership and thus turning John Morrison into a fan favorite.[76]

United States Champion and ShoMiz (2009–2010)

After his split from Morrison, Miz's first singles feud was against John Cena

Miz challenged John Cena to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena returned and defeated him in a singles match at The Bash in June.[77] On the August 3 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Cena, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center, the Raw brand and SummerSlam.[78] The following week on August 10, Miz competed under a mask as The Calgary Kid and won a Contract on Pole match against Eugene, earning a contract in storyline, and revealing himself by removing his mask afterwards. He then debuted his new finisher, the Skull-Crushing Finale, and used it on Eugene.[79] After removing the mask to reveal himself, he cut a promo and debuted his catchphrase: "Because I'm The Miz... and I'm awesome".

In January 2010, The Miz began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two.[87] The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble event with Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz.[88] During this time, Miz formed a tag team with Big Show — later dubbed "ShoMiz" — and on the February 8 episode of Raw the two defeated D-Generation X and The Straight Edge Society to become the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, making Miz the first wrestler in WWE history to hold three championships at the same time (United States, World Tag Team and WWE Tag Team Champion).[89] At Elimination Chamber, Miz again successfully defended his United States Championship against MVP after interference from Big Show, ending their feud.[90]

Miz appeared on the NXT show as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan.[91] At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, ShoMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again.[92] At Extreme Rules on April 25, ShoMiz lost to The Hart Dynasty in a gauntlet match, which per the match stipulation gifted them a tag team title opportunity,[93] which they would receive the following night on Raw, in which ShoMiz lost the titles. After the match, Big Show knocked Miz out and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand, dissolving the team.[94]

On the May 10 episode of Raw, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match, which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty a match for the United States Championship and The Miz, who was allowed to choose his opponent, elected to face Bret Hart.[95] On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, despite Chris Jericho, William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf.[96] The Miz had a tumultuous relationship with Bryan, who was eliminated from NXT on May 11, although he returned the following week to attack The Miz.[97][98]

The Miz returned as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to return.[99][100] On the June 14 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison and Zack Ryder in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship for the second time and retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.[101][102][103]

WWE Champion (2010–2011)

On July 18 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Miz won a Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time over the next year and became the first performer to win Money in the Bank while being a champion and the second, after Rob Van Dam, to hold a Money in the Bank contract and a title at the same time.[104] Over the next few weeks, The Miz attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, but was continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use.[105][106] Daniel Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, taking The Miz's place on Team WWE, causing The Miz to attack him.[107] This began a rivalry between the two, with The Miz losing the United States Championship to Bryan at the Night of Champions event in September.[108] In October, Miz defeated John Cena (after interference from Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty) to become the captain of Team Raw, but Team Raw (The Miz, R-Truth, John Morrison, Santino Marella, Sheamus, CM Punk and Ezekiel Jackson) were unsuccessful in defeating Team SmackDown at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view.[109]

On the November 22 episode of Raw, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett to become the new WWE Champion. The following week, Miz made his first successful title defense, defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match after interference from Michael Cole.[110][111] He successfully defended the championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a tables match following interference from Alex Riley.[112] Miz would then successfully defend the championship against John Morrison in a Professional wrestling match types#Falls Count Anywhere match on the first Raw of 2011, Orton again at the Royal Rumble (after interference from CM Punk) and Lawler the following month at Elimination Chamber.[113][114] The night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Anonymous Raw General Manager to challenge The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles, but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch after The Miz turned on Cena.[115] This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history.[116] The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job. However Riley would be re-hired in mid-March, this time as Miz's "Vice President of Corporate Communications".[117][118] In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock, who then attacked Miz afterwards.[119] At Extreme Rules on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving John Morrison.[120] The Miz would receive his rematch the next night on Raw, which he initially won to regain the championship after hitting Cena with the title belt; however, the decision was reversed after Riley accidentally revealed the title to the referee, resulting in Miz being disqualified. He then failed to regain the championship from Cena again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit on May 22.[121]

The following night on Raw, the Anonymous Raw General Manager denied The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match; Miz blamed Riley for not being able to regain the WWE Championship. Riley then attacked him, turning Riley into a fan favorite.[122] At Capitol Punishment, Miz faced Riley in a losing effort.[123] He went on to lose to Riley in various singles and tag team matches. Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event as the match was won by Alberto Del Rio.[124] Miz would then enter into a tournament to crown the new WWE Champion, defeating Riley and Kofi Kingston to advance to the finals,[125] where he lost to Rey Mysterio.[126] At SummerSlam, The Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio losing to Mysterio, Kingston and John Morrison.[127]

Awesome Truth (2011–2012)

In 2011, Miz was involved in a short-lived tag team with R-Truth (right) known as Awesome Truth

On the August 22 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They then cut a promo agreeing there was a conspiracy in the WWE keeping both of them out of the main event picture, and declared they would, together, seize any future opportunity.[128] They began referring to themselves as "The Awesome Truth".[129] At Night of Champions, after the referee was distracted while The Miz attempted a pin, Miz assaulted him, causing Awesome Truth to lose a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne) by disqualification.[130] Seeking retribution, Miz and Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their No Disqualification match in the main event.[131] Because of their actions from the previous night, R-Truth and The Miz were fired by Triple H on the September 19 episode of Raw.[132][133] At the conclusion of the main event match at Hell in a Cell, R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered the cell as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, John Cena, the Referee and camera men while the cell was again lowered. After this, the entire WWE roster led by Triple H came out to find a way into the cell, before New Orleans Police Department officers were able to get the door open and arrest them. The two later posted a video on YouTube apologizing to the WWE Universe for their actions.[134] The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw. At Vengeance, Miz and R-Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match, after interference from Triple H's long time friend Kevin Nash. Later that night they assaulted John Cena during his WWE Championship match with Alberto Del Rio.[135] At Survivor Series in November, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock.[136] On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz performing a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage on R-Truth.[137] This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy.[138]

The Miz at a WWE live event in 2011

On the November 28 episode of Raw, Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match after a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage.[139] On the December 5, episode of Raw, Miz qualified for a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view for the WWE Championship after a win over Randy Orton via countout, but was unsuccessful.[140][141] Miz would be the first entrant in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, scoring two eliminations and lasting over 45 minutes before he was eliminated by Big Show.[142] At Elimination Chamber in February 2012, Miz competed for the WWE Championship in the titular match, which was won by CM Punk.[143]

Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII event,[144] he later joined John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella.[145][146] Miz picked up the win for Team Johnny after pinning Zack Ryder with the help of Eve, ending his twenty-match losing streak dating back to 2011.[147] He followed this up by losing a battle royal and a singles match against Brodus Clay at Over the Limit in May.[148]

After his loss to Kofi Kingston,[156] The Miz turned into a fan favorite for the first time since 2006 when he joined Mick Foley's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman on the November 12 episode of Raw.[156][157] At the event on November 18, he eliminated Wade Barrett before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio.[158] In the months to come, his turn was not well received by critics, who commented that Miz as a fan favorite was too similar to his villainous character because he was "still cocky, arrogant, and egotistical" while "pivoted toward calling out established heels" (villains). Other criticisms were that Miz was "juvenile", lacking of depth, "grating and not endearing to the audience" and that "there was not that moment when he officially turned and aligned his values with the audience's".[156][159][160][161] The Miz then began a feud with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro after Cesaro insulted America.[162][163] During this feud, Ric Flair became his mentor and Miz adopted the figure-four leglock from Flair as a new finisher.[164] The Miz challenged for Cesaro's United States Championship at the Royal Rumble pre-show,[165] at Elimination Chamber[166] and on the March 3 episode of SmackDown, but was unsuccessful each time.[167]

Miz next sought Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship.[168] He lost a triple threat match against Barrett and Chris Jericho on the March 18 episode of Raw,[169] but defeated Barrett in a non-title match to earn another shot at the title.[170] He captured the title by defeating Barrett at the WrestleMania 29 pre-show,[171] only to lose the title back to him the following night on Raw.[172] Miz failed to recapture the title at Payback[173] and Money in the Bank.[174]

Hollywood A-Lister (2013–2016)

On August 18, he was the host of SummerSlam, during which he had a run-in with Fandango, beginning a feud between the two.[175] Miz went on to defeat Fandango both on the September 2 episode of Raw and on September 15 at Night of Champions.[176][177] The following night on Raw, Miz was assaulted by Randy Orton in front of his parents, resulting in a storyline injury.[178] When Miz returned in October, he quickly lost to Orton.[179] Miz started a feud with Kofi Kingston, defeating him on the Survivor Series pre-show,[180] but losing a no-disqualification match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs to end their feud.[181] In February, Miz stormed out during matches to complain about his lack of screen time and claiming that he should be in matches.[182] He participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, but was eliminated by Santino Marella.[183]

In June 2014, The Miz adopted a movie star persona, bringing in Damien Sandow as his "stunt double" (known as Damien Mizdow)

After a two-month hiatus filming The Marine 4: Moving Target, The Miz returned as a villain for the first time since 2012, on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately began to insult the crowd and taking on the gimmick of a movie star before being interrupted by the returning Chris Jericho, who defeated Miz in his return match. At Battleground on July 20, Miz won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Dolph Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship for the third time.[184] At SummerSlam on August 17, Ziggler defeated Miz to recapture the title.[185] Later that month, Damien Sandow began appearing with Miz as his "stunt double" (mimicking all of Miz's moves and mannerisms) and was subsequently billed as Damien Mizdow.[186] At Night of Champions on September 21, Miz defeated Ziggler to regain the Intercontinental Championship, only to lose the title to Ziggler in a rematch the following night.[187] After defeating Sheamus several times with the help of Mizdow, Miz challenged him for the United States Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 26, but he was unsuccessful.[188]

At Survivor Series on November 23, Miz and Mizdow won the WWE Tag Team Championship by winning a fatal four-way match against defending champions Gold and Stardust, The Usos and Los Matadores.[189] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Miz and Mizdow lost by disqualification against The Usos after Miz hit Jimmy Uso with a Slammy Award.[190] On the December 29 episode of Raw, Miz and Mizdow lost the titles to The Usos.[191] Miz and Mizdow were unsuccessful in regaining the at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015. Miz was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match later that night but was eliminated by Bubba Ray Dudley.[192] After Mizdow began to get more attention from the audience, Miz relegated Mizdow to his personal assistant out of spite.[193] Miz and Mizdow then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 in March, which Miz failed to win after being eliminated by Mizdow, dissolving their partnership.[194] On the April 20 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Mizdow in a match where the winner retained the Miz brand, with help from Summer Rae.[195]

Alliance with Maryse (2016–2017)

On April 3, Miz wrestled in a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32, which was won by Zack Ryder. On the Raw episode post-WrestleMania 32, Miz won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, after his wife Maryse made her return to WWE and distracted Ryder by slapping his father, thus becoming his manager in the process, where the two then became an on-screenpower couple.[199] In the weeks following, Miz and Maryse then began to cut various promos during the Miz TV segments, while calling themselves the "it" couple.[200][201][202] At Payback on May 1, Miz defeated Cesaro to retain his championship after Cesaro was distracted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn brawling on the apron, leading to a feud over the Intercontinental Championship between the four men.[203] At Extreme Rules on May 22, Miz successfully retained the championship against Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a highly acclaimed fatal four-way match, when Miz pinned Cesaro.[204] The following night on Raw, Miz failed to qualify for the 2016Money in the Bank ladder match when he was defeated by Cesaro,[205] setting up another championship match between the two set for the week's SmackDown, which Miz won.[206] Following this, he and Maryse began filming The Marine 5: Battleground, taking them out of action. Both returned on the June 27 episode of Raw, where he lost to Kane in a championship match via countout.[207] At Battleground on July 24, the Intercontinental Championship match between Miz and Darren Young ended in a double disqualification after The Miz pushed Bob Backlund (Darren Young's mentor) and Young attacked him.[208] On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Miz along with Maryse was drafted to SmackDown, with the Intercontinental Championship becoming exclusive to that brand.[209] At SummerSlam on August 21, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews.[210]

As soon as she got hired, it gave me a whole new confidence in everything -- in my ability to do promos, in my ability to be in the ring..." [...] When your wife is sitting there watching you ringside, you are kind of showing off, and you don't want to look stupid -- ever. [...] I'm not in one of those relationships where I'm like, "Ugh, I'm with her all the time, and it sucks" [...] I'm like, "This is what I want." I want to be around her all the time because she's my best friend, and we talk about everything. It brings a whole new light to my life. To be away from her kind of puts you in a down mood.

On the August 23 episode of Talking Smack, The Miz went on a highly praised tirade against SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for calling him a coward, with Miz calling Bryan a "coward" for not returning to the ring when he promised the fans he would, before telling him to "go back to the bingo halls with your indie friends".[212] At Backlash on September 11, Miz successfully defended the title against Dolph Ziggler after Maryse sprayed an unknown substance at Ziggler while the referee was distracted.[213] Afterwards, The Miz continued to blame Bryan and vowed not to defend his Intercontinental Championship on any show until he was granted a contract "renegotiation".[214] At No Mercy on October 9, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ziggler in a title vs career match after Maryse and The Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mikey), were ejected from ringside, ending Miz's reign at 188 days.[215]
On the 900th episode of SmackDown on November 15, Maryse helped Miz to win the championship for the sixth time.[216] Miz successfully defended the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20 after Maryse prematurely rang the bell, causing a distraction.[217] Miz faced Ziggler once more in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4 which Miz won to end their feud.[218]

The Miz as Intercontinental Champion in April 2016

On December 6 episode of SmackDown, Miz successfully defended the title against Dean Ambrose after interference from Maryse and distraction from James Ellsworth.[219] Two weeks later on SmackDown, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews. After the match, Miz was interviewed by Renee Young, where Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real life relationship, prompting her to slap Miz.[220][221] On the January 3, 2017 episode of SmackDown, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose despite interference from Maryse.[222] On January 29, Miz entered the 2017 Royal Rumble match at number 15 and lasted 32 minutes until he was eliminated by The Undertaker.[223]

On January 31 episode of SmackDown, Miz was revealed as one of the participants of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship[224] which took place on February 12, where Miz lost after John Cena eliminated him.[225] On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Miz participated in a ten-man battle royal to determine the challenger for the Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship, but was eliminated by Cena. On the February 28 episode of SmackDown, Miz and Maryse made a special edition of Miz TV to critique Cena's powers on the backstage environment before Maryse slapped Cena and Nikki Bella—Cena's girlfriend—came to save him.[226] On the March 14 episode of SmackDown, after a showdown between Miz and Maryse against Cena and Nikki, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33, which Miz and Maryse lost.[227]

On April 10, Miz was drafted to Raw along with Maryse as part of the Superstar Shake Up, where they made their debut on the same night dressed as Cena and Nikki, before being confronted by the Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, who was also drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up.[228] At Extreme Rules in June, Miz defeated Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship for the seventh time.[229]

Leader of The Miztourage (2017–2018)

Miz in March 2018

On June 5 episode of Raw, during a in ring celebration segment sponsored by Maryse, Miz attacked and destroyed Maryse's gift, a grandfather clock, which Miz thought to be Ambrose within the present.[230] On the June 19 episode of Raw, Maryse was the special guest on Miz TV where Miz apologized for the previous events, but came to use her as a shield to protect himself from Ambrose, causing Maryse to pour champagne on herself and then destroying the grandfather clock that he had restored, which led to Maryse abandoning him again. Afterwards, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, who Miz had approached earlier in the evening offering to make them "the stars [they] deserve to be" if they became his "entourage", revealed themselves to have hidden in bear costumes during the segment, allying with Miz by attacking Dean Ambrose.[231] On June 26 episode of Raw, Miz and The Miztourage fought against Ambrose, Heath Slater and Rhyno in a winning effort.[232] On July 3 on Raw, after an argument between the two, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled two title defenses: Miz successfully defended his championship against Slater that night[233] and against Dean Ambrose at Great Balls of Fire on July 9, due to interference from the Miztourage. At the SummerSlam pre-show on August 20, Miz and The Miztourage defeated Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) in a six-man tag-team match.[234]

On the September 18 episode of Raw, Jason Jordan became the number one contender for Miz's championship after winning a six-pack challenge.[235] At No Mercy on September 25, Miz successfully retained the championship against Jordan.[236] On the October 2 episode of Raw, Miz retained the Intercontinental Title after Roman Reigns was disqualified following interference from Cesaro and Sheamus.[237] Miz teamed with Cesaro, Sheamus, Kane and Braun Strowman against the reunited Shield and Kurt Angle (who replaced Reigns after he was not medically cleared to compete[238]) in a 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22 in a losing effort.[239] In November, Miz faced SmackDown's United States Champion Baron Corbin at Survivor Series in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost.[240] The following night on Raw, Miz lost to Roman Reigns in an Intercontinental Championship match, ending his title reign at 169 days.[241] Miz then took time off to film the movie The Marine 6: Close Quarters.

Miz (center) with The Miztourage as Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania 34

The Miz returned on the January 8, 2018 episode of Raw to host Miz TV. On the 25th anniversary of Raw, he defeated Roman Reigns to win his eighth Intercontinental Championship. Miz then participated in the annual Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view on January 28, but he failed to win the match after being eliminated by the combined effort of Rollins and Reigns. The next night on Raw, Miz defeated Reigns in a rematch to retain the title. On the February 5 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Apollo Crews to qualify for the 2018 Elimination Chamber match to determine the number-one contender for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship, where he was the first wrestler eliminated after lasting over 20 minutes.[242] In parallel to his activities as a singles wrestler, Miz took a part of the Mixed Match Challenge tournament, with Asuka as his partner in support of the charity Rescue Dogs Rock.[243][244] They defeated the teams of Big E and Carmella on January 23, 2018, and Finn Bálor and Sasha Banks on February 27.[245][246] In the semi-finals on March 20, they defeated the team of Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss to qualify for the finals.[247] On April 4, they defeated Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair in the finals to win the tournament and earn $100,000 for their charity.[248] At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Miz lost the Intercontinental title to Seth Rollins in a triple threat match also involving Finn Bálor, suffering his first pinfall loss at WrestleMania.[249]

On the May 8 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz defeated United States Champion Jeff Hardy to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake event.[253] At the event, Miz failed to win the ladder match.[254] Throughout July and August, Miz would taunt and goad long-time rival Daniel Bryan. After initially backing down from his Bryan's match challenge,[255] he would later accept it, leading to a match at SummerSlam.[256] At the event, Miz defeated Bryan, after pinning him following the undetected use of a pair of brass knuckles.[257][258]

Following SummerSlam, Miz mocked Bryan by delivering a fake retirement speech. Miz would go on to announce he was officially retired from facing Bryan ever again before Bryan, and the returning Brie Bella would announce that SmackDown General Manager, Paige had booked Miz and wife Maryse in a mixed tag-team match against Bryan and Bella at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.[259] At the event, Miz and Maryse would go on to win the after Maryse pinned Bella.[260] Following that match, it was announced Miz and Bryan would face each other once more at Super Show-Down event with the winner getting a future WWE Championship match.[261] At the event, Miz was defeated by Bryan.[262]

On the November 6 episode of SmackDown Live, after Daniel Bryan was announced captain of the Men's Survivor Series team at the namesake pay-per-view, Miz would interrupt and demand to be captain instead due to his success at the WWE World Cup. Shane McMahon would later give in to Miz, granting him co-captain duties of the team with both Miz and Bryan reluctantly working together to fill their team.[265] However, the week after, General Manager Paige removed Bryan from the match and replaced him with Jeff Hardy, leaving Miz as the sole captain of Team SmackDown for the event.[266] At the event, Team SmackDown lost to Team Raw.[267]

Over the following weeks, Miz began to slowly turn into a fan favorite by trying to persuade Shane McMahon into forming a tag team with him, referring to them as 'Co-Besties'. On the December 25 episode of SmackDown Live, McMahon appeared as the guest on Miz TV and agreed to forming the team.[268] Miz would then challenge SmackDown Tag Team ChampionsCesaro and Sheamus to a title match at the 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27, 2019,[269] in which Miz and McMahon would defeat the duo to become the new champions.[270] However, the next month at Elimination Chamber, Miz and McMahon lost the titles to The Usos, ending their reign at 21 days.[271]

Having been associated with Ric Flair, The Miz occasionally performs Flair's submission hold, the figure-four leg lock.[277] Since his storyline with Daniel Bryan, The Miz incorporated several of Bryan's moves,[278][279] like the Yes! Kicks, which he nicknames the It Kicks.[280]

Personal life

Mizanin married his longtime girlfriend, French-Canadian fellow WWE wrestler Maryse Ouellet, in The Bahamas on February 20, 2014.[290][291] Their daughter, Monroe Sky Mizanin, was born March 27, 2018.[292][293] Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Austin, Texas.[294] During Elimination Chamber on February 17, 2019 the couple announced they are expecting their second child, due in September.[295]